Make Your Day Count

Sometimes we don’t obey God because it’s inconvenient or because our flesh doesn’t like what He’s asking us to do. But I Samuel 15:22 says, To obey is better than sacrifice. When God asks us to do something, He’s trying to get a wonderful blessing to us. Yet sometimes we let the dumbest things stand between us and our obedience.

I’ll give you an example. When I came to Oral Roberts University as a student, I knew God had called me here, but I didn’t know there was a dress code. I came from a beach town in Florida where we wore sandals all the time. I mean, dressing up meant changing from old flip-flops to new ones.

I didn’t even own a dress, and I found out I was expected to wear one every day! As soon as I heard that news, I called my mother in Florida and said, “Mama, I’m coming home!” She said, “Why?” And I answered indignantly, “Because they say I have to wear a dress every day.

I’m not using my hard-earned money to buy a dress!”

My mother, wise woman that she is, answered calmly, “Lindsay, do you mean to tell me that you’re going to let a piece of fabric come between you and the call of God on your life?”

Well, when she put it that way, what could I say? She mailed me some skirts and told me, “You just stay there and let God talk to you.”

So I did. And it wasn’t long before I met and married Richard, which was God’s plan for me. Imagine how sad it would have been if I’d let dresses keep me from that plan. Don’t let anything stand between you and obeying God. Obedience can bring God’s marvelous blessings into your life.

“If you’re in the midnight hour right now…if you’re in the tough time, the hard time, and you feel like you’re in bondage, like something has literally chained you up, begin to praise God.”

There’s a story in Acts 16 about how the Apostle Paul and his traveling companion Silas had been beaten and thrown in jail for casting an evil spirit out of a slave girl who had been harassing them. Even though they were suffering for something they had done that was right, they were not whining or complaining.

They weren’t saying things like, “Oh, God, where were you when we needed you?” Instead, they began praying, singing hymns and praising God, verse 25 tell us, even at the midnight hour. The midnight hour or the middle of the night, as we might say it now is often one of the toughest times of the day. Paul and Silas had been severely beaten.

Their legs were chained in stocks. And they were thrown into the dungeon, the deepest part of the prison, to keep them from escaping. To the other prisoners who could see their situation, it must have looked as hopeless as their own. But even at their most hopeless time, Paul and Silas made the decision to praise God in the midst of it.

And as they were praising Him, it says very simply that a great rumbling began to take place, and the prison doors were thrown open. The chains holding not just Paul and Silas, but all the prisoners, were
loosed, and they were set free by the power of God. I believe that as we give thanks to God in the middle of our situation especially when it’s a rough one, or an ugly one our thanksgiving opens the gates, or the doors, of heaven and we’re allowed to go into the court rooms of God singing praises to Him.

And as our praise begins to fill the very ears of God Himself, it draws Him into our situation…because Psalm 22:3 tells us that God lives and dwells in the praises of His people. And when God becomes a part of our situation, no matter how bad it is, that situation can start to change and line up with the will of God. We can be set free from the chains binding our lives just as those prisoners were freed from that Roman jail cell. What’s holding you bound right now? What is the prison you’re dealing with? Is a financial prison? A prison of physical pain? An emotional or family prison? Or it may be a prison of some other kind.

If you’re in the midnight hour right now, and you feel like you’re in bondage, like something has literally chained you up, begin to praise God. For in the midst of that problem He is still good, as Psalm 100 tells us, and He is able to set the captive free. And just as Paul’s and Silas’ chains were broken, my prayer is that the bondages in your life will be broken off of you by the power of God, as you enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. And I pray for God to set you free and make you whole, in Jesus’ name.

Recently, Lindsay ministered at a women’s conference in Nicaragua. Her message offers a powerful reminder that no matter what the devil throws at us, we have mighty weapons in Christ to help us win our battles. Whatever we may find ourselves fighting against in life, we need to recognize the real source of our troubles. No matter how it may seem to us, our struggles are not truly about people, politics, economics, or anything else in the natural realm. According to Ephesians 6:12, our true battle is a spiritual fight, and the one we’re fighting against is the devil.

The good news for us as Christians is that our fight has been “fixed,” because Jesus already won it for us on the Cross. He defeated Satan and his demons once and for all and even shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross (Colossians 2:14).

The devil knows he has been defeated.

But while you and I are living on this earth, he will continue to try and harass and intimidate us into living a life of discouragement and defeat, because He knows how much God loves us.

We must fight back. But we are not alone in this spiritual battle, and as long as we fight with the spiritual weapons God has given us, according to 2 Corinthians 10:4-5, we can make the victory Jesus accomplished for us a reality in our lives…for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds…and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.

The weapons that defeat the devil don’t come from our human flesh, our intellect, or our emotions. They are spiritual. They come from God. Recognizing Our Enemy The devil’s attack can come at us in many ways. At times, it’s like a saw. Relationships may be severed, or we may lose our job. At other times, the enemy’s assault is like a hammer. We feel as though we’re taking one hit after another. And sometimes, the devil works to tie us up in emotional knots. Instead of walking in peace, joy, and hope, we feel anxious and stressed.

What are the spiritual weapons that we can use in this spiritual battle so that we don’t miss out on the miracles God is trying to send our way? I believe five of the most important weapons we have available to us through Jesus’ death and resurrection are:

The seeds we plant

• Prayer
• Praise and worship
• The words we speak
• Forgiveness

Using Mighty Weapons to Fight
1. Planting your seed. In Malachi 3:10, God tells us to “bring the tithes and offerings in and I will rebuke the devourer.” Giving God your tithes and offerings—through your local church, through a ministry you know and trust, or any place where you’re being fed the Word of God—is not just a good idea; it gives you a Bible guarantee that the devil will be rebuked in your life. In one Bible translation, devourer means “flesh-eating destroyer.” Is the devil trying to destroy you with sickness and disease, a financial problem, or something in your family? When you sow your seed and aim it as a weapon against the devil, you have a Bible right for the devourer to be rebuked and for your life to be made whole again.

2. Prayer. Have you ever seen someone aim a gun at a target they wanted to hit? To hit the target, you have to aim correctly. Have you been praying in fear? Or have you been praying in a way that can be “powerful and effective,” as James 5:16 tells us. When you pray, you can use that time to cry and complain before the Lord. Or you can do what God told me to do and make your prayers a “battle cry” before Him, aiming your prayer like a gun at the devil’s targets. The next time you pray, you can say, “I aim this prayer against disease, against poverty, or against whatever is trying to destroy my family.” Then attach your faith to it. And, in the name of Jesus, prayer like that can help defeat the devil’s plans in your life.

3. Praise and worship. Psalm 22:3 tells us that God inhabits, or lives and dwells in, the praises of His people. Instead of praising God in the midst of our struggles, too often we whine, gripe, and complain instead. But when we begin to praise and worship Him, to invite Him to come into our situation and take over, the atmosphere changes. If you’re facing a struggle right now, begin to say, “Praise You, Lord. I worship You, Lord. Thank You, Lord, for what You’re doing in my life.” And as you do, watch the atmosphere in your life begin to change. James 4:7 says when you resist the Enemy, he will flee.

4. Your words. If you begin to claim sickness, disease, and poverty, don’t be surprised when they become your best friends! According to Romans 4:17, we have a Bible right to do exactly what God does, Who calls those things which do not exist as though they did. If you’re sick, begin to say, “By the stripes of Jesus, I am healed and whole” (1 Peter 2:24). If you need money, begin to say, “My God shall supply all my need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). If you’re facing any kind of challenge, begin to say, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 4:13).Be careful what you say. Your words can be a powerful weapon that you use either against yourself, or against your enemy, the devil. So line up your words to match the Word of God.

5. Forgiveness. One of the best weapons you’ll ever have is forgiving your enemies. In Matthew 5:44 Jesus said, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. When we hold bitterness and unforgiveness in our hearts, it torments us. Letting it go may not change the other person, but it will change you. We don’t have to approve of what they did, but focusing on what God tells us to do by forgiving those who have hurt us sets us free and takes away the devil’s power to torment us. Keeping Our Focus on God I believe that the key to living a victorious life is to keep our focus on God, rather than on our problems. Our Heavenly Father, for whom nothing is impossible, loves us and shows us in His Word time and again what He can do when we keep Him at the very center of our lives. And when we’re weary or tempted to give up, we must keep on fighting the good fight of faith by using the mighty weapons God has given us. Above all, remember that on the other side of every struggle we endure is a miracle with our name on it.

My mom and dad divorced when I was 5 years old, after they’d been married 20 years and had seven children.

Eventually, my dad remarried. My mother also had a change—she found a personal relationship with Jesus, which made all the difference in her life.

Every morning at five o’clock, I would hear my mom pray for our family, including my dad. She prayed for his new wife and their children by name, praying for their salvation and blessing, calling each one of them into the kingdom of God.

When she prayed for my dad, she would say, “Lord, he’s my children’s father,” and she would speak blessings over his family: “Lord, let them prosper,” she’d pray. “Put people in their path to minister to them.”
Now, as an adult and a mother, I think, My goodness, how hard that must have been.

It was 1976 when she started adding Dad to her daily prayer time. In 2006, my dad accepted Jesus as His Savior. My sister, Amy, led him and his wife to the Lord.

But it didn’t happen overnight. For 30 years my mom had faithfully prayed for my dad.

It’s not about our feelings
Jesus’ word to us in Luke 6:27-28 NKJV says, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. Jesus wasn’t giving us an option. He didn’t say, “Do it if you feel like it and it’s easy.” He also didn’t tell us that we should stop if we don’t see the results we want right away.

I was reading Hebrews 6:15 NKJV the other day, where it said of Abraham, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. That reminded me that most things don’t happen overnight. Life is a process, and in that process there’s some work to be done.

When my dad left my mother, she felt hurt and alone. But out of obedience she prayed for him and his family that they might enter into the kingdom of God. The Lord honored her obedience.

Today we’re seeing the benefits of all those years of prayer and forgiveness, and it is amazing! One of dad’s daughters has decided to become a missionary. My sister and I believe this must be the fruit of Mom’s prayers.

We can choose healing
Maybe, like my mother, you find yourself in the midst of a painful situation. You may feel devastated and alone, even ready to give up.

But I’ve learned it does nothing but continue to hurt us when we hold on to our pain. We must choose to release it to God. I believe when we do, that’s when our healing—and sometimes the healing of others—can begin.

Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only power dynamic enough to change our nation. Christians must em­brace the fact that the Bible has given us authority over spirits of fear, greed, speculation, anxiety, terror­ism, and every other demonic force impacting our na­tion. Proverbs states that the tongue has the power of life and death in it. When we “speak the Word” over our nation, things can change!

Secondly, when Christians “purpose in their hearts” to serve God—no matter what—God will begin to do some very significant things in our nation that will bring godly order back into our schools, homes, businesses, and government.

We must also have faith in the Gospel and believe that God can do the miraculous. Through the power of the name of Jesus and our prayers we can reestablish order in our nation and make the changes God wants! Second Chronicles 7:14 says, “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” We must pray in order to open the door for God’s divine intervention into our nation’s affairs.

Today, more than ever, the Body of Christ must also be willing to stand in the gap for our nation and her people. In a spirit of unity we must say, “Satan, you will not do that to our nation. In Jesus’ name we’re drawing a line and you cannot cross it. We are one nation under God.”

God has a very special plan for this nation that in­volves you and me. As a nation we must not give up the dream so eloquently spoken of by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He said, “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.” Only the power of the Gos­pel can make this dream a reality in America.